vacuum coffee makers and cost

[bpetersxx]

is this a good cost or is it a bit much

not really sure I would pay that much

My sunbeam coffeemasters were less than this but this vacuum may be older hence the price

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185741733267?hash=item2b3f11ed93%3Ag%3AUHoAAOSwg8BjxvxA&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoDbfpTLlsOVS6yckKOq8pIkSkDGf4b8sg%2F%2FyAjheO8qNccQ5OoKYuuGCNZpqrVVjTDcKAo2sE9p0FDNWs3S3hLF1wnW4tm375nj0tj7xi1%2F1X2EvYsxc9U8riHkwsGRCAV%2FVfOO0n8Edv%2B2

 

[launderess]

People have lost their minds...

Years ago one could pick up vacuum coffee makers of all sorts for very little money, even NOS. Then word got out and now every seller thinks they've struck gold.

Personally wouldn't pay that much money for any vac pot even NOS. There are deals to be had out there if one looks long and hard enough. Just picked up a few new Silex glass pots for very little money.

This after swearing off glass (too many upper or lower pots damaged during washing up) and switched to a stainless steel Flavor-Seal pot.

Scout about thrift stores, estate sales etc... FleaPay isn't only game in town and often prices are higher than they should be. Of course keep one's eye out for something reasonable.

 

[sudsmaster]

Interesting...

I drink a cup of coffee just about every day. Used to be more than a cuppa day, but that's a different story.

 

I went from a Mr. Coffee (or similar) to a variety of others, currently a Keurig 2.0, which I find well suits my tastes and habits.

 

No, never tried a vacuum coffee maker. I remember being told they were a lot of bother. It sounds possible that they produce a better cup, but I'm OK with what I have.

 

Here's a Wiki entry on vacuum coffee makers:

Vacuum coffee maker - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ea56]

If you are looking for a good stove top vacuum coffee brewer get a new 8 cup Yama Vacuum Brewer.

When I was still able to drink coffee and going thru my vacuum coffee pot phase I used one of these Yama pots daily for several months. I’ve owned and used several different vac pot during the time I was drinking vac brewed coffee.

I had 4 different Sunbeam Coffeemasters, a Silex like in the OP, 3 different Cory vac pots and a SS Nicro vac pot.

Hands down the Yama made the purest and best tasting pot of coffee. There are several outlets on line to purchase one of these pots and parts are readily available.

Eddie

Yama Glass 8 Cup Stovetop Coffee Siphon (Syphon)

The Yama Glass Stovetop Coffee Syphon is a unique, theatrical way to make coffee using a vacuum brewed technique that produces a cleaner, richer, and smoother cup of coffee. Yama Glass is sturdy and made from hand-blown Borosilicate glass, so it's temper and heat resistant for safety but more...

yama-glass.com

 

[ea56]

Another thing to take into consideration when purchasing a vintage vacuum coffee pot are the gaskets. They can often be deteriorated from age, even those that are in the original box and unused. Rubber has a tendency to rot with age, even if unused.

And the gasket is probably the most important part of a vacuum pot. Without a tight seal that can only be accomplished with a well fitting and tight gasket you will be unable to achieve a vacuum seal that will allow the vacuum brewing process to take place properly. Either the boiling water won’t rise to the top pot or the brewed coffee won’t be able to pass back through the filter into the lower pot.

One thing that I especially like about the Yama is the gasket. It always provided a reliable vacuum seal with complete rise of the water to the upper pot and complete pass thru the filter back to the lower pot.

I had a vintage Cory pot once that had a rotted gasket and was useless until I bought a replacement gasket which was hard to find. I had another vintage Cory that gave the brewed coffee the taste of rubber, nasty!

The Sunbeam Coffeemasters tend to have problems with the thermostats eventually and are hard as hell to adjust. My experience was that once the thermostat went out of whack the pot was useless. Either the pot wouldn’t keep the brewed coffee hot anymore or worse yet would boil over all over the counter, NO Bueno!

Eddie

 

[sudsmaster]

Now I'm wondering if Eddie's Yama pot had synthetic rubber gasket(s)... Because usually synthetic rubber is much more resistant to decay than natural rubber.

 

If the gasket is gray, it's probably at least in part synthetic.

 

[ PS - I have a Yama. It's a Yamaha. Fun bike. Ha ha ha. ]

 

 

 

[launderess]

Have three Keurig machines (all new to me gifts) and cannot abide what they produce. Guess am spoiled by vac pot brew all these years. But to each his or her own...

Two of the Keurig machines really need to move on as never have nor likely will use. Large one came from a friend who as closing his office before joining mass exodus from city when covid hit. Might haul it out for a dinner party or otherwise have a crowd.

Vac pot gaskets:

Have heard and read about some of them going off, but knock wood all of mine arrived with nice fresh, soft and intact gaskets.

Made mistake of cleaning the metal Flavorseal pot by using coffee pot cleaner and it did a number on the rubber or whatever substance used for gasket. It isn't same as the black gaskets on my Sunbeam, Silex and Cory vac pots. Hence reason began laying in supply of Silex glass pots that have found for little money lately.

Issue many have with vintage vac pots is filtering.

Many grinders even conical burr ones like KitchenAid or Bodum produce ground coffee with lots of static and fines no matter what setting. Those fines can cause various glass or other rod filters to clog and stall. Some disk and other filters also have similar issue.

Happily nabbed a job lot of vintage Silex cloth vac pot filters so am set for life. Use about once or few times then bung into a jar until washing time. Clean, boil, rinse thoroughly and dry, then put away for reuse.

Odd thing is can use store bought ground coffee (even from K-cups) in my vac pot using glass rod filter no problems.

Looked at getting a more professional upmarket grinder from various auctions and was promptly warned off. Several washing machines is bad enough, line was drawn at starting a collection of coffee grinders. Hahaha

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, perhaps because I load up my Keurig coffee with 1 tsp organic sugar, a little vial of creamer (about a tsp, I think), and then top it off at the end with a dollop of canned whipped cream I keep handy in the fridge...

 

Tastes fine to me. At least as good as any coffee from a regular drip machine.

 

Plus, since I normally drink just one cup in the morning, less waste.

 

YMMV

 

PS-I have a Keurig 2.0:

 

 

 

[ea56]

Re: #5 and 6

Yes Rich, the gasket on the Yama is synthetic rubber. And sorry, I have to agree with Launderess about coffee from a Keurig, it can’t hold a candle to a cup of coffee brewed in a vac pot. To me that K-cup coffee is weak and tasteless, instant coffee tastes better.

BTW, Launderess when I was still drinking coffee and using my vac pots my preferred filter was a Cory Glass Rod filter. But you’re correct, they don’t preform well with coffee thats too finely ground and have a tendency to stall on the draw down with powdery ground coffee. But with store bought ground coffee they are excellent and the easiest to clean too.

Eddie

 

[sarahperdue]

Coffeemaster

A C30 is my daily driver. When I first started using one about fifteen years ago, I thought the gasket was the weak link. Now I agree with Eddie. Damn. Thermostat problems. Eruptions when too high and bilge water coffee when too cold.

Still my daily driver though. When working properly, the coffee is hard to beat. All of my friends agree that I make the best coffee. Someday, I'll run out of spares, then I hope I'll be able to find more.

Sarah

 

[rinso]

Here's another sideways shot of my current daily driver automatic vacuum coffee maker. It was made by KitchenAid and I bought it quite a few years ago. I doubt that it is still in production. It makes delicious coffee without bitterness or a burned flavor.

 

[ea56]

It’s too bad that Kitchenaid no longer makes the vac brewer in EuGene’s post. It would be a very viable alternative for automatic vac brewer lovers over the aging and temperamental Sunbeam C20’s, 30’s and 50’s. The only disadvantage is that they are breakable glass.

I still say that anyone that wants a reliable new vac brewer would be happy with an 8 cup Yama. They make an excellent cup of coffee and can be used with either the cloth filters they come with or a Cory glass rod filter.

Eddie

 

[mattl]

Sunbeam boil over

Used a C30 for a year or two.  Had it on a smart plug so I had coffee when I got up.  Every month or so I'd wake up to a countertop covered in coffee.  Got tired of it. There was a special tool used to adjust the temp, but they are unobtainium. It was a nut driver with a screwdriver in the middle if I recall.  It's not hard to adjust the temp but the setting gets messed up when you try to lock it in place.

 

Today, I use both my Kureig and my Cuisinart. I only use decaf and now only use Peet's water process decaf. Any of the other decaf's use <span class="ILfuVd NA6bn" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc"> ethyl acetate or methylene chloride and have a terrible taste to me. There are a number of companies that use the water method but Peet's hit the right spot for me - cost/taste.
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[sarahperdue]

Still available

A brief search turned up listings for the KitchenAid at Walmart and on Amazon. It's a gorgeous pot but at $325, I can probably buy enough Coffeemasters to last me the rest of my life.